For those that think the Ferguson protest movement is just a bunch of dirty hippies and Grinches who want to disrupt Christamas at Westlake, here's a story about Friday night's round of protests.

The Pike Place Senior Center puts on a caroling contest every year at Westlake Park called Figgy Pudding to raise money for its homeless clients and day shelter. (Last year they raised $100,000.)

The group was nervous that protests scheduled for Friday night would prevent this year's caroling. But after contacting protest leaders on Facebook, the protesters moved their event to Sunday.

They protesters announced on Facebook:

The Shut XMAS Down protest cancelled rescheduled Sunday Statement

December 5, 2014 at 12:57pm

The Shut XMAS Down protest was canceled at last minute because why oppress the homeless, when figgy pudding event helps the homeless and when they are oppressed by seattle police and police nationwide every single day. ...

JOIN US SUNDAY

2. Both a north Seattle neighborhood group and a north Seattle business group have held meetings to discuss the 2015 city hall races for North Seattle's 5th Council District. The business group, made up of north Seattle members of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, met at Hotel Nexus on N. Northgate Way on November 19. The neighborhood group, more green, urbanist, and diverse than the stereotypical Seattle neighborhood group—probably because of demographic data like this—met at El Norte Lounge on Lake City Way last week.

We don't have any details from the chamber meeting—it was private—except that only one of the three declared candidates, Port of Seattle small business and program manager Mian Rice, a former transportation and regional policy planner at city hall during the Mayor Greg Nickels years (and former mayor Norm Rice's son), attended.

All three candidates (Rice along with former Church Council of Greater Seattle leader Rev. Sandy Brown—a social justice, gun control, and gay rights activist—and Halei Watkins, a Planned Parenthood organizer) were at the neighborhood event.

Big topics at the neighborhood meeting, with about 20 neighbors on hand, were housing affordability (for young families, immigrant families, seniors, and working class families) and infrastructure (lack of sidewalks in general, plus building a Northgate pedestrian-bike bridge (now on hold), upgrading the Lake City Way Community Center (not in the council budget) and getting a future light rail station at 130th St. as part of Sound Transit 3—in particular.

The 130th St. station in Lake City—a stop that had supposedly been nudged out in favor of getting more money to suburban stations—is back in the mix.

3. Speaking of a 130th St. station—a stop that had supposedly been nudged out in favor of getting more money to suburban stations—it's back in the mix.

Lake City neighbors believe adding a station at 130th, with no parking garage necessary, offers more bike and ped friendly access and will relieve traffic pressure on the Northgate station and the 145th St. station (coming on line in 2021 as part of ST2).

Neighbors were thrilled to hear in an email from Sound Transit's north Seattle community outreach point-person yesterday that 130th is up for discussion again at the northern end of the ST2 line between Northgate and the Lynwood Transit Center:

Although stations at NE 130th and 220th St. SW (Mountlake Terrace) were not part of the preferred alternative the Board identified in late 2013, there was enough public interest in both stations the Board directed staff to continue the analysis of them ... So it would be accurate to say the Board is continuing to look at the potential for stations at NE 130rh 220th SW.

NOTE: I originally said the 130th St. station was a possibility for a potential new ST3 line, but it is a possibility as an add on to the existing ST2 line.

4. If yesterday's Fizz item about New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's Seattle shout out gave you the impression it was all hail Mayor Ed Murray or City Council member Kshama Sawant (De Blasio was cheering Seattle's $15 minimum wage), here's some context. De Blasio was speaking at the national meeting of Local Progress, a group of progressive municipal leaders co-founded in 2012 (and now chaired by) Seattle City Council member Nick Licata in 2012.

De Blasio called out Licata by name during his speech.

From De Blasio's speech:

I cannot tell a lie—I do not know Nick Licata. I know he’s a council member from Seattle. I know he is the chair of Local Progress – and I thank him for that – but I can tell you that what – just judging from what Seattle’s achieved, I already like Nick Licata.

And I like Nick Licata’s name. I just have to say that, Nick – a little solidarity moment here – calling out the ancestors. [Licata and de Blasio are both Italian.]

I want to thank all of you and welcome all of you and just thank you for the work you do. We all reference each other. We all build upon each other’s work. Seattle – I’m going tip my cap – and I hope – I hope Seattle – and I’ve said this to Mayor Murray as well – I hope you appreciate that we bow before you here in the largest city in the country, and we look with great respect at what you’ve achieved.